Poetry performance

22/07/2020

zoom class By Peter Ndivo

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QUESTION ON PERFORMANCE

How would you perform a given line of the poem.

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This question on performance requires that, suppose you are presenting this poem, or you are reciting this poem, its expected that there is a way that you will recite/ perform to make it lively.

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Performance techniques required includes

Appropriate Gestures

Appropriate Body movements

Appropriate facial expression

Appropriate intonation

Appropriate tonal variation

Enunciation (clear articulation and pronunciation) and stressing the content words.

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GESTURES;Gestures are forms of non-verbal communication in which visible body actions are used to communicate messages parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of hands, head, legs and fingers. It’s the demonstration of an action shown by movements of these parts of the body.

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Examples of common human gestaures• Outstretched hand is gesture for

begging/requesting.• Rubbing the thumb finger over the index finger is

a gesture for money.• Handshake is a gesture for greeting.• Hand salute is a gesture for respect.• Thumbs up is a gesture for okay/approval.• Waving is a gesture for greeting or sign of

departure.• Applause is an expression of approval.• Open palms is a gesture to convey

openness/trust/compliance.• Putting the palms of the hands together is a sign

of praying.• Bowing is a sign of respect.• Cheek kissing is a sign of friendship/greetings• Raising the palm to the face is an expression of

frustration/embarrassment• Head shaking/ nodding in approval or disapproval.• Shrugging lifting both shoulders indicates lack of

knowledge/concern.• Raised left Clenched fist to show solidarity of

deviance

The Bloom: 6

.Example.

THE CROW

Cross on the wing!

What grace as they swim

Rising and diving

Like fish in the billows

In the willowy air

Or softly as feathers

Fran broken – pillows

How would you perform line one,twoand three of the poem?

Cross on the wing!

What a grace as they swim

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I will use gestures

Moving my hands in a gliding manner to demonstrate the swimming of the crows, raising the hand up to demonstrate the rising and quickly forcing it down to demonstrate diving.

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BODY MOVEMENTSthis is a type of non-verbal communication in which physical movements are used to express or convey information it entails Showing the demonstration of an action by moving the whole of your body. E.g. jump, laying down on he flow, slowly moving away.

example

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example,.Drizzle

Outside my house

Drizzle

Falling slowly like coins

Outside my house

The thief is hiding

In the shadow of the wall

Let him go out and gather money for the me

From the hands of men

Let him gather money for me

From the hands of women

Let me lie here like a viper

And food will walk straight into my mouth

i. How would you dramatize the last two lines.

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Body movements where I would lie flat on the ground like a viper and gestulate the action of putting something in the mouth

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❑ Facial expression

This is the appearance of the face as you read through a line or words of a poem depending with the context of the line and the choice of words used by the poet. Facial expression is integral when expressing emotions through the face. Combinations of eyes, eyebrow, lips, nose and cheek movements help form different moods of an individual. E.g. happy , sad, angry etc

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The following are examples of facial expressions that one wear on different situations.

- Happy face/ smiling in a happy / funny situation

- Sad face in a sad situation

- Confused facial appearance in case of a dilemma or a confusing situation.

- Shameful facial expression/ saddened look in case of a weird situation.

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- A surprised look/ widened eyes/ gaping mouth in case of a surprising instances.

- Focused and concentrated expression- eyes fixed on something and less blinking.

- Raised eyebrows/ half open eyelids in case of tired/ exhausted situation

- Seductive look/ eyes fixed on someone in a case of love or romantic situation

The Bloom: 14

- Squeezed face/shrinking face/ closed mouth in case of anger and stress

- Widened eyes/ mouth opened increased breathing rate in case of fear and anxiety

- Frowning/ withdrawn look in case of a sad situation

- Smile/ slightly opened mouth/teeth displaye/active look in case of happiness.

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❑INTONATION;It involves changes is pitch/voice from rising to falling or from high voice to a low voice or vice-versa. There are two ways of changing the voice, either rising intonation or falling intonation. Intonation involves pitch and that is the rising or falling of voice that makes the words we utter high or low.

➢ In poetry, Intonation is used pragmatically for emphasis, to convey surprises or irony, to pose a question, for expressing emotions and attitudes and stressing content words in a line.

➢ In a normal conversation the pitch is usually at middle or high: low pitch occurs at the end of utterances apart from a yes or no question. Very strong pitch is for strong emotions or for emphasis. Tag questions with declarative statement would use a falling intonation since they does not actually intended as yes/no questions

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1.FALLING INTONATION

– in poetry it is used mostly in

- the last line of every stanza specifically to show finality.

- at a sad instances and seductive/ romantic phrases and emotional attachment.

- used to show emphasis on content words.

- used also in situations that suggest boredom, sarcasm, disinterest

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RISING INTONATION– used in the beginning/ 1st stanza of a poem to signal beginning of the recitation.- Its also used in a line of a poem

that has a question whose probable answer is yes or no.

- It’s also used in expressions of high energy emotions such as happiness, excitement, fright and annoyance .

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Example

Cow for breakfast

Six o’clock

And you insist

I must kill a cow

For your breakfast

Here with me

What size of beast

Will you require

For your lunch at

Twelve o’clock

How would you say the first and the last line of this poem?

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Use a rising intonation in line1 to show the beginning of the recitation with a high pitch in the word ‘six’Use a falling intonation in the last line to show finality of the poem.

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TONAL VARIATIONThis is a variation (changes) in the pitch of the voice while speaking to help distinguish words stress, attitude and emotions of the speaker it is the changes in pitch/sound as one recite the poem, it is how one creates sound when speaking, reciting a poem effectively requires a plenty of voice changes(variation)

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Examples of tones include.

- Cheerful/joyous tone in case of a happy situation.

- Slow tone.

- Loud tone in case of surprising situation.

- Soft tone in case of a pleasing situation.

- Humorous tone in case of a funny situation.

- Seriaous tone in case of serious/important situation.

- Roaring tone

- Demanding tone

- Assertive tone when stating / declaring something positively

- Affirmative tone when agreeing/ concurring or supporting a situation.

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ELEMENTS OF TONAL VARIATION

1. Volume – loudness of the voice

2. Pitch - frequency of sound waves, i.e.. High note/low note

3. Pace - speed of the sound also called the tempo its either fast or slow

4. Timbre - emotional quality of the voice. The voice should accompany the emotional attachment of the speaker or the context of the poem.eg a sad voice when the situation in the poem is a sad one like death.

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EFFECTIVENESS OF USING TONAL VARIATION

- For emphasis of meaningful parts of the speech

- Helps in comprehending /understanding the message of the poem

- To draw the speakers emotional attachment with the message in the poem

- To express the speakers situation e.g.. disgust, surprise, certainty, happiness etc.

N/B – A good illustration of a tonal variation should mention 1)the kind of tone used 2) the pace / speed of voice 3) volume of the voice.

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Example.

How would you say the last line of this poem?

BUSY

I’ve got some dust in my eye

A crocodile’s biting my leg’

A goat’s got into the garden,

There’s a porcupine in the cooking pot,

The corn is drying in the rock,

The chief has called me to court,

I have to go to my mother-in-law’s funeral

I’m busy

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I would say the last line in a angry voice/arrogant tone and a fast pace with a raised volume to indicate that the speaker is disgusted and not willing to be bothered by anyone. I would also stress the word ‘busy’.

N/B Enunciation is saying the content words by emphasizing/ stressing them and properly articulating them.

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HOW TO SAY A GIVEN LINE

There is difference between ‘‘how to perform’’ and ‘‘how to say’’

‘’How to say’’ requires the techniques that are only done by word of mouth, therefore only the oral techniques should be listed and appropriately illustrated. This techniques include

- Tonal variation

- Intonation

- Enunciation of words – properly articulating words of a line.

- Stressing the content words of the line given.

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Example.

How would you say this last line of a poem

Her spirit from death gin.

I would say with a slow pace, low voice with a soft tone so a s to emphasize on the subject of death mentioned,

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I would also use a falling intonation to signal the end of the poem/finalityI would also enunciate and stress the content words “spirit” and “death”

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END OF CLASS

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